


Polygon's Cyber Pokemon Red

by kingsquid1



Category: Let's Play Cyberpunk Red - Polygon (Web Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 14,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsquid1/pseuds/kingsquid1
Summary: Vang0 woke up in a desecrated laboratory six months ago, with none of his memories. Burger Chainz works on a farm, rehabilitating injured Pokemon (and people. Well, one person.) Dapper Dasha used to be one of the most famous Pokemon Contest stars in the world, but two years ago she disappeared, and hasn't been seen since.Vang0 starts working as Burger's electrician, and it turns out their lives are more intertwined than they thought.
Relationships: Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz
Comments: 11
Kudos: 19
Collections: PCPR Mini Big Bang 2020





	1. Memories - Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of the PCPR Mini Big Bang! It was awesome to be a part of this project, and I highly recommend checking out everyone else's works :) the art for this fic was done by B, who isn't on many social media platforms so asked me to post the art for them. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. I tried to make this fic accessible to people who aren't Pokemon fans but it might be a little confusing!
> 
> you can find the art drawn for this work here! https://bang0-vang0.tumblr.com/post/639463760158949376/polygons-cyber-pokemon-red-chapter-1

_He opened his eyes, the throbbing sensation in his head making him wince. He was lying on the floor, looking up at a ceiling made of metal, with broken lights on the ceiling. One of them was sparking, the rest dim._

_Grimacing, he tried to sit up, but cried out loud as a sharp pain shot through his ribs. He looked down to see a red patch soaking his shirt._

_He felt something cold on his hand, and looked to his right to see a Tangela touching his hand. It whimpered softly, and he noticed that it was bleeding too._

_“Who do you belong to?” He muttered, and his voice sounded strange and foreign._

_The Tangela whimpered again, and nudged its muzzle against his waist. He looked down to see a Pokéball on his belt._

_“Are you… mine?”_

_He didn’t remember owning a Tangela. Or any Pokémon, for that matter. He didn’t remember…_

_He felt his heart stop as he realised he didn’t remember anything._

_Shaking, he reached down to take the Pokéball, and clicked it open. Red light erupted from it, and the Tangela became enveloped in it, before disappearing inside the ball. He stared at the red and white sphere in his hand, dumbstruck._

__How could I forget my own Pokémon? __

_Slowly, painfully, he managed to stand, and looked around the rest of the room._

_It was almost completely destroyed._

_There was rubble everywhere, but it seemed to have once been a laboratory - there were desks with computers, and some kind of structure in the middle of the room that looked like it was once a fluid-filled tank, with tubes hanging out of the broken glass casing._

_All of the computers were shattered or broken, except one. He walked over to it._

_There was only one file on the computer, titled ‘Project 22.2-11470’. He opened it._

_It was blank._

_There was nothing, not a single document or picture._

_He felt his fingers moving across the keyboard, as if someone else was controlling them. He had no idea how he knew what to do, but a few seconds later, a history of all the commands performed on this computer were on the screen. The most recent one read:_

__Delete contents of file [Project 22.2-11470]. Authorised by administrator Vang0-Bang0. __

_“Vang0 Bang0,” he muttered, and something about that name felt familiar._


	2. I

Vang0 frowned, biting his lip before rapidly typing a sequence of commands on the PC. 

“Find anything?” His client asked.

Vang0 gave an irritated sigh. “Listen, things are gonna move a _lot_ faster if you don’t interrupt me, but yes, I have found ‘something’.”

There was a brief moment of blissful silence.

“Well, what is it then?”

“What?”

“What have you found?”

Vang0 turned around. “Like I said, the less you talk, the faster I fix the problem, uh, what was your name?”

His client frowned slightly, but he also had what Vang0 interpreted as a bemused smile on his face. Although, it was slightly difficult to tell, as his lower jaw was made entirely of metal.

“Name’s Burger. And I’m not too fussed about how fast this all gets fixed up, so I’d much rather have a friendly conversation even if it takes up a little more time.”

“Oh.” Vang0 wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he quickly moved the conversation on. “Well, the problem with your PC is that it’s just a really old, shitty model. You should get a new one. I mean, I can _probably_ get it working again, but it’s only a matter of time before it completely dies, and then you’ve spent unnecessary money fixing it.”

“Ah. Thought that might be the case.”

“The best model on the market right now is the NJ-240, but its price is a bit steep, and you’ll get pretty much the same quality from an OJR20, so I’d recommend that one. Although, there are some perks that you only get with the NJ-240, like-”

“Thank you, but I’d rather you just fix up this one best you can.”

Vang0 blinked at him. “Uh, were you listening to me?”

“Yep, heard you loud and clear. I’d just rather stick with this PC, it’s served me well enough over the years.”

“Well, that’s not logical.”

Burger laughed. “It don’t need to be logical, I just ain’t the best with new technology, so I’d much prefer to stay with what I already know how to use. And if it acts up again, you’ll be makin’ more money from me, so it’s a win for you.”

“I mean, I’d rather you had a PC that wasn’t a complete piece of junk, but if that’s what you want then I’ll do what I can,” Vang0 said, turning back around to fiddle with the PC.

“Thank you.”

“I’m gonna need to replace a lot of the parts, so it’ll be pricey.”

“That’s alright, I’ll pay whatever’s needed.”

Vang0 bent down to unscrew the back of the PC. 

“What do you even need a PC for anyway? All your pokemon are outside. I saw them when I drove in.”

“Oh, those aren’t my pokemon. They’re all wild ones that I’m lookin’ after until they’re well enough to go back out into their natural habitats. I need the PC to work because sometimes people from far away will find injured pokemon, catch ‘em, and send ‘em to me through the PC system. Much easier than travelin’ all the way out into the middle of nowhere to find my farm.”

Vang0 nodded as he started to dismantle the PC. “This is going to take a while. I’ll need to come back tomorrow to install the correct parts.”

“Alrighty then, you just take all the time you need to get it fixed up. Can I get you somethin’ to drink or eat? We’ve got delicious MooMoo Milk here.”

“Just water.”

“Coming right up.”

Vang0 worked for a while longer, interrupted only by the occasional conversation from Burger. It was almost dark before he realised how long he’d been working.

“Well, that’s all I can do today, so like I said, I’ll be back tomorrow with the parts, but I do have to order some of them, so it’s probably going to take a while for those ones.”

“Thank you kindly,” Burger said, and handed Vang0 a cookie. “Just a little something extra for your work.”

“Oh.” Vang0 took the cookie. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing, friend. See ya tomorrow!”

“Uh. Bye.”

Vang0 left Burger’s house, heading for his car, and checked his watch.

“Fuck.”

The Pokémon Contest Semi-finals were live on TV in seven minutes.

He needed to get home fast.


	3. II

_ www.jumptrubbish.net/pokemoncontests/dapperdasha _

_THEORY ABOUT DAPPER DASHA [posted: 19/10 by @miloticfan17]_

_Well, I’ve spent the best part of the last three months researching everything there is to know about Dapper Dasha, and here’s what I’ve discovered, and what I think it means._

_For those of you who are just stumbling across this forum page, ‘Dapper Dasha’ (real name Dasha Scarlet) was a Pokémon Contest star who held the record for most contests won until two years ago, when she disappeared. No one has seen her since. She performed primarily with her Milotic, but also used a Vaporeon on a few occasions. Her parents are Pearl Scarlet, who was a Pokemon Contest star in her day, and Dr Marlowe Scarlet, the famous scientist._

_The first thing I noticed when rewatching all of Dasha’s contests, is that whenever she wins a contest, her mother comes up onto stage with her. Now, this may seem normal parental behaviour, but on closer examination, you can see that Dasha seems very uncomfortable. I have attached images showing her facial expressions. [ image 1] [image 2] [image 3] [image 4]_

_On a similar note, in the interview by PokéTV, when asked about her inspirations, Dasha seems to be unsure of what to say until her mother places her hand on Dasha’s knee. Then, Dasha immediately says that her mother is her biggest inspiration, and-_

Vang0 jumped as his alarm went off - and realised he’d spent almost two hours looking at forum posts about Dapper Dasha. 

He got dressed as quickly as possible, which wasn’t very quickly because he couldn’t decide on a goddamn outfit to wear _(he really wanted to wear his mesh cropped shirt with a skirt, but that wasn’t exactly practical when he was going to be doing manual labour and working on fixing electronics all day, so he eventually decided on dungarees over the mesh shirt),_ but eventually he managed to get out his apartment, only ten minutes late.

The drive out to Burger’s farm was a long one, but Vang0 enjoyed it - he liked being able to zone out for a while, half listening to whatever was being played on the radio, half lost in his own thoughts. His thoughts were _currently_ occupied with the Pokémon Contest he’d watched last night.

In fact, more specifically, he was thinking about what it would be like if he entered a Pokémon Contest. He’d wanted to enter one as long as he could remember - which wasn’t that long, given the fact that he only had memories of the last seven months - but regardless, there was only one hitch, which was that Vang0 didn’t have any Pokémon.

Well, there was Tangela, but he wasn’t exactly a viable option.

He sighed, pushing the thought out of his mind as he neared Burger’s farm. Even if he caught a Pokémon - which would be difficult, seeing as he didn’t have any Pokémon to weaken a wild one with - he didn’t have time to enter any Contests. His job was full time, and it needed to be to pay the bills.

“Welcome back, friend!” Burger said as Vang0 got out of the car.

“Uh, hi,” Vang0 said. He felt distinctly awkward, which wasn’t unusual, but something about Burger seemed to make his social skills even more atrocious than usual. 

“Come on in, then, I’ve just started makin’ some coffee if you’d like a cup.”

“Uh, I don’t- I mean, I can’t really, uh, drink coffee. Could I get a glass of water?”

“Sure thing, coming right up!” Burger bustled off into the kitchen, leaving Vang0 with the PC. He just started getting to work, when the lights flickered, and went out. Vang0 frowned.

Burger came back into the room, carrying a glass of water in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. “Ah, drat,” he said, “been having problems with the electricity all mornin’. Thought it’d cleared up, but seems it’s still acting up. Sorry ‘bout that, Vang0.”

“I don’t need electricity to work. At the moment. I mean, I’ll probably need it later, but right now I’m just replacing parts.” Vang0 felt his cheeks getting red. Why was it so damn hard to talk to this guy coherently? “I could, uh, have a look at your lights. If you want.”

“I don’t want to ask you to do somethin’ you’re not paid to do-”

“I mean, you’re paying me by the hour, so technically I would be getting paid. And I’m already here, so I might as well do it.”

“Well, alright then, if you’re okay with it then I’d really appreciate the help. The fuse box is down in the basement, I’ll show you the way.”


	4. Memories - Part II

_“What do you mean I’m not on the system?”_

_“Well, you don’t have a trainer card on you, or any ID for that matter. We don’t have anyone under the name Vang0 Bang0 registered in our systems. I can’t help you; I’m sorry.” Nurse Joy genuinely looked apologetic, but Vang0 didn’t care._

_“He’s_ dying!” _He yelled, loud enough that the other people in the Pokemon center turned to stare at him._

_“Sir, please, I’m going to have to ask you to leave-”_

_“There must be something you can do!”_

_“You can buy potions from the Pokémart, but we can’t take Pokémon from unregistered trainers into our care.”_

_She turned, and walked through a door behind the desk, signalling that the conversation was over._

_Vang0 stood in there, the people around him still staring, clutching the Pokéball in his hand._

_He couldn’t buy any potions. He didn’t have money._

_There was nothing he could do._


	5. III

The basement was dark and dingy, not helped by the fact that the lights were out. Vang0 could just see Burger reach for something in his bag, and realised it was a Pokéball. 

“Alright Ampharos, come on and give us a hand here,” Burger said, and blue light fissured from the Pokeball, forming into an Ampharos. 

The room immediately filled up with the soft glow from Ampharos’s tail, and Vang0 could see piles of boxes around the walls, interrupted only by shelves packed to the brim with junk.

“Sorry ‘bout the mess,” Burger said, “I’m a bit too sentimental for my own good. The fuse box is over on that wall.”

Vang0 walked over to it. The door was slightly ajar, and as he reached out to touch it, he froze. He could distinctly hear scuffling and what sounded like something sparking.

Slowly and cautiously, Vang0 opened the door. 

A flurry of yellow made him jump backwards with a yelp of surprise, and he squinted at the inside of the fuse box. 

“You alright?” Burger asked, surprised at Vang0’s sudden noise.

He could see what must have been dozens of tiny yellow creatures swarming about the wires inside the box.

Joltik. 

“Uh, yeah I’m fine,” Vang0 stuttered, “ and I’ve found the problem.”

“Oh, fantastic! What is it?”

“You’ve got an infestation of Joltik. They’re too small to generate their own electricity, so they absorb it from another source - usually a Galvantula, their evolved form, or another electric type Pokémon, but if they can’t find any then they move into houses or other electrical sources and get it from there.” Vang0 wasn’t sure how he knew all of that, but it came naturally to him like he’d known it his whole life.

“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard to fix, then,” Burger said. “Ampharos, why don’t’cha go over there and give those Joltik some electricity?”

His Ampharos moved forwards to the Joltik, and started generating a small current of electricity around itself. Almost immediately, the Joltik jumped off from the fuse box and attached themselves to Ampharos, feeding off its electrical charge. 

The lights flickered, and turned back on. 

“There we are, all sorted. I’m sure Ampharos and the other electric types we’ve got here will be happy to give these little guys some power.”

Vang0 was about to respond, but stopped. He thought he could still hear that same scuffling noise from inside the fuse box. Frowning, he peered inside it, but couldn’t see anything. The wires were a _mess._

Carefully, Vang0 started moving the wires around, trying unsuccessfully to untangle them. The scuffling noise began to become accompanied by a loud squeaking.

“What’re you up to?”

“I think there’s still a Joltik stuck in here. I’m gonna need to disconnect some of the wires so I can untangle them and try to find it.”

Without waiting for a response, Vang0 flipped the switch on the box so that electricity stopped flowing to it, and started disconnecting the wires. 

It took a good few minutes before he’d made any progress untangling them, with the scuffling and squeaking only getting louder, but soon he was able to de-cluster the wires enough to see a tiny crack in the back of the fuse box, behind which he could just make out a bundle of yellow fur.

“How’d you manage to get in there?” Vang0 muttered, and pulled a screwdriver from his pocket, wedging it in the gap and pushing it sideways to try and widen the crack. 

It opened slightly, but not enough for the Joltik to get out. 

Cursing under his breath, Vang0 moved his screwdriver to instead unscrew the fuse box from the wall.

He took it carefully off the wall, revealing the hole behind it which the Joltik was in.

“Hey, what are you doing-” Burger asked, but Vang0 ignored him, reaching his hand out to the hole, which was now just big enough for the Joltik to squeeze out of and onto Vang0’s hand.

“I’ll put your fuse box back,” Vang0 said, turning around and stretching his hand towards Ampharos so that the Joltik could jump to it.

Burger laughed. “I sure would hope so, friend.”

Vang0 frowned. The Joltik was not moving to Ampharos, but instead leaped up his arm and onto his shoulder.

“Well, you can stay there, but I don’t have any electricity to provide,” Vang0 said.

“I reckon that little fella likes you, now that you saved it and all,” Burger said, smiling slightly. 

Vang0 chewed his lip, feeling uneasy. 

“What’s up, friend? You’ve got a big ol’ frown on your face.”

Vang0 blushed. “I’m not- I’m just- thinking. I mean, Joltik usually travel with their mother Galvantula, and it’s unusual for them to be seen without one, so these ones might have been separated from their mother.”

Burger frowned. “Well, that ain’t good.”

Vang0 nodded. “And Galvantula can get very angry when separated from their young.” 

Burger opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by someone yelling loudly.

“BURGER! Burger, where the fuck are you!?”

Vang0 watched as Burger spun around and started towards the basement door.

“Burger!? Are you down here? There’s a huge fucking-”

“No, don’t come down-”

Burger was cut off as the door flew open, and someone catapulted into the basement.

Vang0 stared, eyes wide.

“Burger,” he said, “why the _hell_ is Dapper Dasha in your house?”


	6. IV

Burger and Dasha froze, staring at Vang0.

Vang0 stared back.

There was no mistaking it - standing right in front of him, in the house of some farmer, was ex-contest star Dapper Dasha, who hadn’t been seen in _two years._

“Dapper Dasha?” Burger said, “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Vang0. This here is uh, um, Gina Sine-”

“Burger, he clearly knows who I am. And besides, we have more important things to worry about right now, such as the _giant fucking Galvantula_ in my room. Do you think we could sort that out first?”

Burger nodded. “Ah, well that would explain why these guys were sucking up our electricity instead of their mother’s-”

“Uh, you haven’t answered my question,” Vang0 interrupted. He felt like he had just fallen into another plane of existence - which, to be fair, wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling - but this time instead of waking up in a desecrated laboratory with no memories, he was standing in front of the most famous contest star ever, who he also happened to run a fan forum for.

“Listen, Vang0, I’ll explain everything later, alright? But first I think we need to return all these Joltik to their mother.”

“Well, yeah, I _guess,_ but I mean, this isn’t just any-” Vang0 paused, and stared at Burger intently. “Burger, do you know who Dapper Dasha is?”

“I think you mean, does he know who I _was,”_ Dasha said, “and can we _please_ have this conversation on the way to my room?”

Burger turned to Vang0. “Dasha’s been stayin’ with me for a year or so. I’ll explain the rest of the story after we’ve dealt with the Galvantula issue, alright?”

Vang0 crossed his arms. “Fine. I’m holding you to that.”

“Alright then.” Burger turned back to Dasha. “So, you said the Galvantula’s in your cottage?”

She nodded. “Starting careering around and breaking everything. I tried to battle it, but, well, my Pokemon are all water types, so it didn’t go very well.”

“Well, luckily my Marowak will be able to deal with all that electricity…”

Vang0 followed Burger and Dasha as they walked up the basement stairs, his mind racing.

He didn’t think he’d seen any theories on the forum that suggested something even vaguely close to this - most people suggested she ran away to a different region, or that she’d be kidnapped-

But here she was, living on a random farm in the rural areas of Hoenn, mere hours away from her last known location.

Vang0 only noticed they’d reached what must have been Dasha’s cottage when he almost walked into Burger.

From inside the cottage, he could clearly hear sounds of things being broken, along with the crackling sound of electricity.

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Burger said, “I’m gonna send Ampharos in with the Joltik. Hopefully, once the Joltik have returned to her, the mother’ll calm down. If that doesn’t happen, then I’ll go in there with Marowak.”

“We’ll make sure to throw you a lovely funeral,” Dasha said. Vang0 snorted.

“Well, thanks for the support,” Burger said, but he didn’t seem to be worried. “Alright Ampharos, off you go.”

Still covered in the Joltik, Ampharos walked inside the cottage. 

They heard the angry-Galvantula-noises get louder for a few moments, and then they suddenly stopped.

They exchanged nervous glances, before Ampharos returned through the front door, free from Joltik. 

"Well," Burger said, "that was easy-"

He was cut off by a deafening roar from inside the cottage?

Dasha turned to him. "You were saying?" 

The front door was blown off its hinges as the Galvantula burst through, sending sparks flying everywhere. It was followed by a horde of Joltik on the ground, each of them sparking with electricity.

Burger stepped in front of Dasha and Vang0. "Get back! Go, Marowak!" He threw a Pokéball into the air, and blue light erupted from it. "Use Earthquake!" 

Vang0 was yanked backwards by Dasha as Burger’s Marowak used Earthquake, which upended most of the Joltik, but only seemed to make the Galvantula more angry.

“Sorry for pulling you,” Dasha said, “the further away we are, the better.”

“Uh, it’s fine. I mean, thank you,” Vang0 stuttered, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his _idol_ was standing right next to him.

Burger yelled out another command, and his Marowak dove back into battle.

“Hold on,” Dasha said, frowning, “you’ve still got that Joltik on your shoulder.”

Vang0 twisted his head around to look. Sure enough, the Joltik was still happily attached to the strap of his dungarees. 

“Uh,” he said, staring at it, “should I… remove it?”

Dasha shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, it could be contributing to the mother’s anger, that one of her children still isn’t with her.”

Vang0 nodded, and tried to take the Joltik off his shoulder. As soon as he removed it and had it in his hand, a jolt of electricity shot down his arm. Vang0 yelped, and the Joltik jumped back to his shoulder.

“It shocked me!” He said in surprise.

Dasha raised her eyebrows. “Maybe it likes you?”

“Hey, you two, could ya lend me a hand?” Burger yelled, and Vang0 and Dasha snapped their heads around to look. 

The Galvantula was covered in mud, still sending off weak jolts of electricity that didn’t go very far, and seemingly struggling to move.

“I’m gonna distract her, I need one of you to throw a Pokeball!” Burger called to them.

“What? You’re going to _catch_ it?” Dasha exclaimed.

“Just so I can take it somewhere to be released! There’s Pokeballs in my bag, if you catch the mother then the Joltik should stay with Ampharos again!”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere near that thing,” Dasha said, “looks like it’s up to you.”

“Wh- what?” Vang0 stuttered, “I can’t do it. I mean, I’ve never caught a pokemon before.”

Dasha stared at him, incredulously. “Really?”

“I mean, I can’t remember ever catching a Pokemon.” Dasha raised her eyebrows. “It’s a long story. Well, not really- listen, I can’t remember anything before six months ago. So I don’t have any Pokemon,” Vang0 fumbled.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Just throw the Pokeball in its general direction. Easy.”

Vang0 looked from Dasha to the Galvantula - still covered in mud, groaning and writhing on the ground - and back to Dasha.

“You got this.”

Maybe it was because his idol was telling him to do it, or the fact that every sensible thought seemed to leave his head around Burger, or a combination of the two, but Vang0 nodded, and ran over to Burger’s bag.


	7. V

Vang0 grabbed one of the Pokéballs inside Burger’s bag, and turned to look at where the Galvantula was. 

He gulped, and raised his arm, before chucking the Pokéball as hard as he could towards it. 

The Pokéball flew through the air, and with a solid _thunk,_ it hit the back of Burger’s head.

“Hey, what the-” Burger spun around. “Vang0, what-”

Vang0 cringed, and called out, “Sorry, uh- I’m not the best at aiming, it turns out-”

“I’ll get out of your way, just throw another one!”

Vang0 nodded, and grabbed another Pokéball. Burger had moved out of his line of fire. He took a deep breath, and threw it.

This time, the Pokéball hit the Galvantula, and red light encased it. 

The Pokéball fell to the ground.

It shook once- twice- three times- and then-

The Galvantula was caught.

“You did it!” Vang0’s breath was knocked out of him as Burger tackled him into a hug.

“I don’t really do hugs,” Vang0 wheezed, feeling giddy.

Burger released him. “Ah, sorry, friend,” he said, but he still had a huge grin on his face.

“Good job,” Dasha said, walking up to them, “I told you you could do it.”

“Thanks,” Vang0 said, “I mean, it wasn’t _that_ hard, I’ve just never done it before, so-” He cut himself off, feeling his face go red. “Well, I don’t _remember_ doing it before.”

Burger and Dasha didn’t quite seem sure how to respond to that. Vang0 couldn't really blame them, and took the burden of moving the conversation along. “So, we should probably, uh, release the Galvantula? And the Joltik?”

Burger nodded. “Right. It’s a bit of a drive, but there’s a good place in the forest we can take ‘em to.”

Burger’s van was in about the same state of dilapidation as his PC, the only difference being that the van was somehow still able to function. 

“Uh, is that thing safe?” Vang0 asked, looking skeptically at it.

“‘Course it is!” Burger said cheerily, getting in the driver’s seat.

“I wouldn’t recommend being in the front,” Dasha muttered to Vang0, “it’s worse when you can see what’s going on.”

Vang0 decided to take Dasha’s advice, and they both clambered into the back of the van with Ampharos, Vang0 still clutching the Pokeball with the Galvantula inside.

“That little guy still won’t leave, huh?” Dasha said, gesturing to Vang0’s shoulder where, sure enough, the Joltik was perched.

“I guess he’ll go when we release the Galvantula.”

Dasha shrugged. “Maybe it wants to stay with you.”

Vang0 stared at her for a second, and then looked away. “I don’t think I’m- I mean, I’m not very good with Pokémon.”

“How do you know? I thought you’d never caught a Pokémon before?”

“Well-” Vang0 bit his lip. “I guess.”

They sat in silence for a while, and Vang0 felt like he was fucking _suffocating_ in it, still unsure why it felt like walking through concrete every time he tried to think-

“So, fire away then.”

Vang0 turned to look at Dasha. “What?”

“Your questions,” she said, leaning back in her seat, “you know, why did I stop doing contests, where have I been, am I going back… etcetera. Fire away.”

How the hell had Vang0 managed to forget that he was sitting in the back of a van with _Dapper Fucking Dasha,_ his role model, the most famous contest star in the world-

“I’ll just give you the short version.” She sighed. “My mother was becoming really controlling over what contests I did, which Pokémon I used, what I wore, everything. Then I found out that my father was working on some science experiment that was hurting a lot of Pokemon. I ran away, impulsively, which wasn’t the smartest idea - I got jumped by some Team Rocket thugs, and only just managed to get away. Burger found me passed out on the edge of his farm, and took me in. Didn’t have a clue who I was until I explained. He’s been letting me stay here since.”

Vang0 stared at her. “You- you mean to tell me that you’ve just been on some random guy’s farm for two years?”

Dasha smiled slightly. “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it. It’s been a nice change of pace. I do want to get back out into the world, though. That’s why I don’t mind telling you all this. I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell anyone, but if you do then I’ll just be leaving Burger’s farm a bit earlier than intended.”

Vang0 was still staring at her, unsure of what to say. 

“What about you? Don’t let me be the only one spilling my secrets. I’m very curious about your whole amnesia thing.”

“Well, it’s _amnesia,_ so I, uh, don’t really know what happened.”

“Oh.” Dasha looked slightly disappointed, and Vang0 felt his heart sink. 

“I mean- I woke up in some kind of laboratory, and I have no idea why. I still don’t. I tried looking for some record of it, but there’s nothing anywhere on the internet.”

Dasha’s expression changed slightly - almost too subtly to notice.

“Were you the only person there?” She asked, her brows furrowed slightly.

“Yes. Well, there was-” Vang0 looked away from Dasha, feeling like something was squeezing his chest. “Uh, there was a Tangela. He must have belonged to me, because I had his Pokeball.”

Vang0 couldn’t look at Dasha. 

“What happened to him?” Dasha asked quietly.

“He-”

“We’re here!” Burger yelled from the front as the van jolted into stillness. 

Vang0 felt like he’d been snapped out of some kind of trance. He looked at Dasha, who was staring at him with a mix of sadness and pity, and quickly brushed past her, out of the van.


	8. VI

_Idiot. Fucking idiot. You can’t tell her about Tangela, she’ll hate you, she’ll think you’re awful-_

“Alright, Vang0, you got that Pokéball?” Burger said.

“Uh, yep, right here.”

He took the Pokéball out of his pocket, and held it out for Burger.

“Nah, I think you should do the honours,” Burger said, “seein’ as you’re the one who caught it and all.”

“Well, I mean-” Vang0 looked at Burger, and then nervously around to Dasha, who gave him a quick smile. “Okay.”

Vang0 walked over to Burger until they were standing next to each other. 

He realised that Burger smelled like freshly baked cookies, and that he was quite a bit taller than Vang0.

Vang0 took a deep breath, and pressed the button on the Pokéball.

It immediately sprung open, releasing a fissure of blue light which morphed into Galvantula.

She looked at them for a second, and tilted her head slightly. She seemed much tamer now - Vang0 supposed that made sense, given that she had technically been caught.

With a soft buzzing noise, all the Joltik on Ampharos’s back scuttled over to their mother and attached themselves to her belly. 

All of them, except the one that was still on Vang0’s shoulder.

He tentatively took it off his shoulder and held it in his hand - this time it didn’t shock him - and said, “You can, uh, go back to your mother now.”

The Joltik stared at him, and didn’t move. 

“Like I said, Vang0,” Dasha said, “I think that little guy wants to stay with you.”

Vang0 turned to look at Burger and Dasha.

Burger nodded. “Dasha’s right. I’ve got some Pokéballs in the van, if you wanna-”

“No!” Vang0 shouted, almost startling himself with the shout. “I can’t- you don’t understand.” He looked at the Joltik in his hands, which was still staring at him adamantly. “I don’t want to hurt you too,” he said, failing to stop his voice from shaking. 

Burger took a tentative step forward. “Vang0, I got an idea. Why don’t you catch this little fella now, and see how you feel for a few days? If you still don’t want to keep him, I’ll take him off your hands and return him to his mother. Alright?”

Vang0 looked at Burger.

Every sensible part of his brain was screaming _no,_ but there was something about the way Burger looked at him that made him nod.

“Okay.”

It was late by the time they got back to Burger’s farm - the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, and Burger pretty much forced Vang0 to take a spare bed rather than drive home in the dark.

To be fair, Vang0 didn’t need much convincing.

He was _tired._ The kind of tired that seeped into every bone of your body, and settled there, making you heavy in every sense of the word. 

Despite this, he couldn’t get to sleep. 

Maybe it was the unfamiliar bed, or the Pokéball with a newly caught Joltik inside of it, but he lay in the lumpy spare bed for what felt like hours until he eventually gave up. 

He grabbed his toolkit from the floor, and hesitated for a moment before picking up the Pokéball and putting it in his pocket too.

The house was eerie at night. Even though he’d only been there a couple times, he was used to the sound of Burger clattering around in the next room, and the various noises of Pokémon from outside. The quiet felt… deafening, almost.

He started to work on the PC, installing the parts he’d meant to put in earlier, but hadn’t managed to due to the… electricity problem.

Vang0 only realised how long he’d been working when he heard Burger’s voice from behind him.

“Jeez, it’s early for me to be up, what are you doin’ working already?”

Vang0 whipped around. “Oh. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t, don’t worry,” Burger said through a yawn, “I’ve got extra stuff to do this morning.”

Vang0 nodded, and turned back to the PC.

“You spend any time with Joltik yet?” Burger asked. 

“No,” Vang0 said, without turning around.

“You should let it out while you work. They like electrical stuff.”

Vang0 made a noncommittal noise, and waited until he heard Burger’s footsteps retreat into the kitchen before he picked up Joltik’s Pokeball. 

As soon as he opened its ball, Joltik started happily zipping around the PC, jumping between it and Vang0’s shoulder with squeals of delight. 

“Just… don’t get in my way. Okay?” He said, watching it closely. 

Joltik settled on his shoulder, and Vang0 got back to work.


	9. Memories - Part III

_Vang0 rapped on the door of the Pokémon Professor’s house, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for a response._

_It was stupid. It was all fucking stupid._

_You needed to be a registered trainer to give captured Pokémon to the Pokémon centre, and you needed money to buy potions, but you also needed money to become a registered trainer-_

_“Hello, can I help you?”_

_An old woman who must have been Professor Rosewood was standing at the door._

_“Hi, yes, I’d like to get a trainer’s license please?”_

_“Have you got a receipt from the Pokémon centre?”_

_Vang0 nodded, pulling out a slip of paper from his pocket._

_Professor Rosewood carefully scrutinised it. Vang0’s heart pounded in his chest._

_“Alright, follow me,” she said, and Vang0 followed her inside._

_“Do you need the whole speech, or are you just here for your trainer card?”_

_“Just the card. Uh, thanks, ma’am.”_

_She turned to give him a strange look. “Call me Professor.”_

_He nodded._

_They walked into what looked like some sort of office, and she started fumbling around in a draw, until she pulled out a blank card. She inserted it into a slot in one of the computers._

_“Name?”_

_“Vang0 Bang0.”_

_She turned to look at him again. “Can you spell that for me?”_

_“V-A-N-G-zero, space, B-A-N-G-zero.”  
“You got a weird name, kid.”_

_She pressed a button, and the card came back out of the machine, now with writing on it. “Alright, all set. This has your trainer ID, name, and a barcode on it. You’ll need to scan the barcode at Pokemon centres, PCs, and gyms. If you lose it, come back here and I’ll get you a new one. But, try not to lose it. It’s a hassle.”_

_Vang0 nodded, and muttered a quick, “Thank you,” before running out of her house, and towards the nearest Pokémon centre as fast as he could._


	10. VII

“Why don’t you stay here a while?” Burger asked.

They were sitting at the dining room table for lunch, which was a concoction of delicious food that Vang0 couldn’t even begin to guess the name of.

“Wh- what?” Vang0 spluttered, almost dropping his fork. 

He’d only known Burger a few days, and what’s more, he was Burger’s _electrician._

“Just while ya finish workin’ on the PC. Or longer, if you want. It’d be more convenient, and I can keep an eye on Joltik. Besides, I think Dasha likes you, which is much rarer than you’d think.”

Vang0 looked intensely at his food, not sure how to respond. 

“Sorry if I caught you off guard there, friend,” Burger said, smiling slightly, “you don’t gotta decide right now. Take your time and see how you feel.”

“Uh, yeah, right.” Vang0 nodded. 

Burger smiled, and Vang0 couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but Burger’s smile felt _safe._

“I’d, uh, better get back to work,” Vang0 said, “thanks for the food.” He stood up, and Joltik jumped from where it had been eating on the floor to his shoulder. Vang0 tried not to flinch as it landed on him, but Burger’s concerned expression made him think he hadn’t done a very good job.

Burger looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off as the kitchen door flew open and Dasha bolted inside, slamming it shut behind her.

“Why the _fuck,”_ she hissed, breathing heavily, “is there a crowd of paparazzi outside my cottage?”

Burger stared at her, his eyes open wide. “A crowd of _what?”_

“People with fucking cameras who want to ask me why and how I disappeared!”

“I know what paparazzi are- I mean- how’d they find you?”

Dasha turned to look at Vang0. “Vang0, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything-” she took a deep breath- “you and Burger are the only people who know where I am. Burger struggles to use a cellphone, and has no reason to tell anyone where I am-”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Vang0 said, maybe a little too quickly to be convincing, but it was true, he hadn’t told anyone, and he hadn’t been _planning_ on telling anyone, he liked Dasha, he didn’t want her to leave, he hadn’t even looked at the forums much since he’d met her-

“Are you sure you didn’t- I don’t know, let it slip to someone? I won’t be angry if you did, I just want to know-”

“I didn’t!” He could feel his voice bordering on yelling, there was some kind of ringing in his ears, he couldn’t breathe properly-

“Dasha, let’s not make any accusations, there are many ways they could’ve found out, we knew this wasn’t a permanent solution,” Burger said, “Vang0, are you alright there?”

Vang0 clutched his head between his hands, trying to control his breathing.

“Hey, Vang0, deep breaths now-”

Burger’s voice sounded faint and tinny, as though it was being played through an old radio. 

_”Project Amnesia: Test no. 34. Start.”_

_“Beheeyem, wipe the test subject’s memories of all mentions of the Debonair Corporation.”_

_Bright lights filled the small room, flashing between colours._

_“Test subject 34, please answer the following questions to the best of your knowledge: What is the Debonair Corporation?”_

_“I don’t… I don’t remember.”_

_“What has the Debonair Corporation done?”_

_“I don’t remember.”_

_“Who is the head of the Debonair Corporation?”_

_“I don’t remember.”_

_“What is the aim of the Debonair Corporation?”_

_“I- I don’t- why can’t I remember? What did you do to me!? I can’t remember, I can’t-”_

_“Insert tranquiliser. Once again, test subject seems to be aware that they used to know about the Debonair Corporation, and becomes aggravated when probed further. This is not ideal. We need to find a way to extend Beheeyem’s memory wipe further into the subject’s mind.”_

_He reached down, and gently stroked Tangela. “I really hope this starts working soon, Terry.” He let out a deep sigh. “Test 34 completed by Vang0 Bang0.”_


	11. VIII

Vang0 opened his eyes slowly to the thrum of an engine. It took a few moments for him to orient himself - he felt like he had a _really_ bad hangover, or as if someone had hit him repeatedly over the head with a frying pan - but he realised he was lying in the back of Burger’s van.

He sat up slowly, to see Burger driving the van, and Dasha in the passenger seat, slumped to the side, presumably asleep.

Burger’s eyes met his in the mirror. “Alright there, Vang0?”

“My head fucking hurts, but yeah, I’m alright. What happened?”

“Well, not sure how much you remember there, friend, but Dasha came in and was a bit, uh, panicked about the fact that paparazzi seemed to have found her. She rather unfairly accused you of spilling the beans, and you kinda freaked out. Looked like a panic attack to me. You ever had one of those before?”

“Uh, yeah. A couple times. That I remember.”

Burger nodded. “Luckily you’re pretty light, so I carried you to the van and we started drivin’ off to my friend’s place. It’s a long drive, but he’ll be happy to help. He owes me a favour.” Burger sighed. “Dasha fell asleep about two hours ago. Don’t think she’s gonna wake up for a while.”

There was a moment of silence, and Vang0 felt something like peace at the sound of the engine whirring softly as they drove along the path. It was getting dark already, and a sliver of the moon was visible above the treeline.

“Why are you so sure I’d be able to look after Joltik?” Vang0 asked suddenly, surprising himself with the question.

Burger paused for a moment. “I know that I haven’t exactly known you long, Vang0, and I obviously don’t know who you were before you lost your memory. I gather that somethin’ must have happened to make you feel that you ain’t worthy of lookin’ after a Pokémon. But I’ll tell you what I know - you’re not a bad person. Alright? You helped me with my electrical problems out of the goodness of your heart, you kept Dasha’s secret when a ton of other people would’ve tried to sell it to a journalist for money, and on top of that, you saved that Joltik’s life.”

Burger looked into the rear view mirror again, and Vang0 caught a glimpse of a smile.

“Vang0, if you aren’t fit to be a trainer, then no one is.”

“But I-” Vang0 stopped, and reached into his bag, taking out a very old and scratched Pokeball. “I couldn’t even look after one Pokémon properly. He’s- he’s going to die, and there’s nothing I can do.”

“The Pokémon center can’t help?”

Vang0 shook his head. “When I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything. The only thing I had on me was this Pokéball, and it belonged to the Tangela that was lying next to me. He was hurt. I took him to the Pokémon center, but I didn’t have a trainer card, and they said they didn’t have any trainers registered under my name, so they couldn’t help me, and I didn’t have any money to buy potions or to get a trainer card-”

Vang0 paused, taking a deep breath.

“By the time I managed to scrounge up enough money to get a trainer card, they told me it was too late. His condition was so bad that if they let him out of the Pokéball, he’d die almost instantly. And he’s too injured to fix while inside the Pokéball. So now he’s just stuck in limbo, inside this Pokéball, and I can’t- he’s going to-”

He stared at the floor, his eyes burning, feeling some mixture of intense shame and terrible sadness that he hadn’t let himself feel for months.

“Well, shit, Vang0,” Burger said quietly, after a few moments. 

“Yeah.”

“But, Vang0, none of that’s your fault.”

“What?”

“You did everything you possibly could. It ain’t your fault the system’s fucked up like that. I know it might not be so easy to understand that, and feeling guilty is natural, but… you aren’t to blame here, Vang0.”

Vang0 didn’t say anything. Or rather, he couldn’t say anything. He felt as if Burger had just reached inside of him and started to fix whatever the fuck was going on inside his mind. He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but quickly closed it again.

In the passenger seat, Dasha stirred softly, sighing deeply in her sleep.

“We’re nearly at Hypo’s place,” Burger said, “hopefully we can figure things out properly there.”

After a few minutes, they arrived at a large hotel situated at the edge of a forest. 

Burger woke Dasha, and she groggily got out of the car, followed by Vang0. They lugged the few bags they’d taken with them to the front door, where Burger knocked.

The door swung open, and a man with a moustache and long hair pulled back into a ponytail stood there.

“Hey there, Hypo, good to see ya,” Burger said, but Hypo shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Burger, there wasn’t anything I could do-”

A man stepped forwards from the shadows, and stood next to Hypo in the doorway.

“Dad?” Dasha said softly, her voice quivering.

“Hello, Dasha,” he said, “it’s good to-”

His eyes landed on Vang0.

“Well, this _is_ a surprise,” he said, scrutinising Vang0 carefully, a smile playing on his lips. “Glad to have you back, Vang0. We all thought you were dead.”


	12. Memories - Part ???

_"Mr Scarlet?" Vang0 called, catching up to him._

_"Yes?"_

_"Uh, my name is, uh Vang0 Bang0- well, that's my code- I work here in the-"_

_"Yes, I know who you are, Vang0. You've been doing excellent work for us, Dr M tells me."_

_"Oh, uh-" Vang0 blushed, "thank you, sir. I actually wanted to ask you about my work. The project I'm working on, specifically."_

_"And is there a reason you've come to me instead of Dr M?"_

_Vang0 shuffled uneasily. "Well, it's just that- M doesn't really like me, I think? Probably because she's scared I'm going to take her job, because I'm better than her at it, but I mean, I wanted to get your opinion directly."_

_Mr Scarlet chuckled. "You don't beat avoid saying hard truths. I like you. Come to my office, and we can chat further."_

_Vang0 followed Mr Scarlet to his office, and sat down on the plush armchair in front of his desk._

_"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?"_

_"Well, as I'm sure M has told you, we've basically reached the level of memory loss we need for our purposes. M suggests that we stop now, and continue perfecting Beheeyem's abilities, but I think it's worth it to keep going."_

_"Go on."_

_"I think we've only just begun to unlock its potential. We can achieve our goals, yes, but there's so much more that we would be able to do. We could gain the ability to completely control and manipulate people's memories, not just erase and replace small parts. I mean, I think we could even exchange memories between people. We could find out information without even having to lift a finger - the possibilities are endless."_

_Vang0 took a deep breath, and looked nervously at Mr Scarlet._

_Marlowe Scarlet smiled, and nodded. "I like your thinking. Permission granted to continue your experiments."_

_"Thank you, sir." Vang0 got up to leave, hardly able to believe it._

_"And if your results are satisfactory," Scarlet said as Vang0 opened the door, "you might be looking at taking Dr M's position."_


	13. IX

"Vang0, why the _hell_ does my father know who you are?" Dasha said, turning to Vang0, her voice cold and furious.

"I- I don't know," Vang0 stuttered, "I don't know him-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Dasha's father said, "Vang0 here was one of my top scientists at the institute. He was actually up for a promotion before the incident - of course, that offer still stands, now that we know you're alive and well."

"How did you know we'd be here?" Dasha said quietly.

"Oh, it was easy enough once the paparazzi found you. Someone heard the kerfuffle with that Galvantula and recognised you, then it was only a matter of time. You really should be more careful if you're trying to hide, Dasha."

Burger was looking from Dasha, to Vang0, to Dasha's father, his brows furrowed in confusion. Vang0 felt the same, but everyone was acting like he was supposed to know what was going on.

Dasha turned to him.

"Vang0, when exactly were you going to tell me that you worked for my father at the institute?" She asked quietly, but underneath the calm and controlled tone, Vang0 could tell she was furious.

“I- I didn’t- I don’t remember-”

“Oh, of course! You don’t remember - how _convenient._ It just so happens that one of the head scientists at my father’s fucked up experimentation institute lost his memory and then turned up at the same random farm as his daughter. Right, that’s fucking believable.” She turned to her father. “You can’t control me anymore, Dad. I’m an adult now. You can’t force me to go back home.”

“Ah, I’m afraid that’s where you’re mistaken, dearest,” he said, smiling slightly. “Vang0, you losing your memories really is unfortunate, but I’m afraid we can’t use our resources on restoring them. Nonetheless, I thank you for your work at the institute. You really did help us a lot.” He looked over Vang0’s shoulder, and nodded. Vang0 turned to see who he was looking at, but before he could see, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, and his vision blurred before going dark.

-

“Vang0. Vang0, wake up.”

Vang0’s eyes fluttered open to see Burger standing over him, looking concerned. “Oh, thank Arceus. Don’t move too fast, now, nice and easy.”

With Burger’s help, Vang0 managed to sit up. He was on a bed in a small hotel room, with Burger standing next to him, and Hypo - the man who had greeted them at the door - pacing nervously on the other side.

“Alright, there we go, easy does it.”

“What- Where’s Dasha?”

Burger nervously made eye contact with Hypo.

“Well, we all got hit over the head like you did, and when we woke up, she was gone. You must’ve been hit harder than us, though, you’ve been out of it for a few hours.”

Vang0 rubbed the back of his head where he’d been hit. “I… I used to work for… for Dasha’s father?” He asked quietly.

Burger nodded slowly. “Sure seems that way.”

Vang0 looked down at his lap, not wanting to make eye contact with Burger. “I’m tired of not knowing who I am.”

“We might be able to do somethin’ about that. Or at least, we can try.” Burger looked at Hypo. “We did some digging about Dasha’s dad while you were asleep. That institute he was talkin’ about must’ve been something real special, because it was difficult to even find out what their aim was. Anyway, we eventually managed to dig up somethin’ that said that they were experimenting with a Pokemon called Beheeyem.”

Vang0 frowned. “Beheeyem… that sounds familiar.”

“It’s a Pokemon that can alter people’s memories.”

Vang0 looked up at Burger. “So you think-”

“It’s just a theory. But I’d figure there’s a good chance this Beheeyem has something to do with you losing all your memories.”

“I encountered something like this before,” Hypo said, finally ceasing his pacing, “a few people turned up here, with no memory of how they got here. They didn’t have any memories of the previous week, it turned out. ‘Cause they only lost a week of memories, we managed to use what they remembered from before that to help jog them into regaining their memories. But that was just a week. You lost memories of _years.”_

“Vang0, do you remember anything from before you lost your memories?” Burger asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve had a few dreams that felt like memories, but… I can’t be sure.”

“Well, why don’t we start with you reading some of the stuff we found on Dasha’s dad? Me and Hypo will start trying to figure out where she might’ve been taken, and you try and remember as much as you can.”

Burger stood up, and he and Hypo walked out of the room, leaving Vang0 alone with Hypo’s laptop. He gingerly picked it up, and started to read. 

The first tab open was a tabloid article on the explosion of the lab.

_HUGE EXPLOSION OF DEBONAIR INC. LAB_

_Yesterday, one of the laboratories belonging to Debonair Incorporated exploded, leaving everyone in a panic about the local Pokemon displaced by the explosion. The lab was situated right next to a forest which housed hundreds of different Pokemon species, being one of the most diverse areas in the region._

_Debonair Inc. has not yet made an official statement regarding the explosion, but many are speculating as to the activities that took place inside it. Debonair Inc. has always been very secretive about their operations, but this lab was one of their most hush-hush prpjects. The only piece of information we have is an ex-employee who informed us that the lab was working with the Pokémon Beyeehem._

Vang0 felt a sharp pain in his right temple, and winced, inhaling air sharply. 

Beheeyem.

Why did that Pokémon sound so familiar?

He felt the pain in his temple again, even sharper this time. Closing his eyes tightly, he screwed up his face, shoving his hands against his temples to try and dull the pain-


	14. Memories - Part ???

_“Welcome to Debonair Incorporated, Vang0 Bang0. Your office is on the third floor. You will be working under Dr M. If you have any questions, please refer yourself to Tiberius, who is at the desk next to you.”_

_\---_

_“Dr M, can I make a suggestion about the experiments?”_

_“I suppose so. Don’t assume that I’ll listen to you, though.”_

_\---_

_“Don’t take it personally, kid. M hates pretty much everyone. Took me and Luke months before she even started treating us like people. I reckon your ideas are actually pretty good, and she’s pissed that you thought of them before she did.”_

_\---_

_“Vang0. Come here. You’re to assist me with the experiments from now on. As much as I hate to admit it, you’ve got some good ideas.”_

_\---_

_“Test subject 12 seems to only have lost a week’s worth of memory, much like the previous test subjects, and also regains memories fairly easily when probed. I would suggest that we use Beheeyem’s abilities rapidly and quickly in order to achieve better results.”_

_\---_

_“It seems that Beheeyem is able to more successfully remove memories when it is agitated or distressed. I would suggest that we take advantage of this.”_

_\---_

_“There’s something going wrong in the lab. You’d better get there quick, Vang0, we’ve been told to evacuate but M’s still there-”_

_\---_

_“M, we have to go! Beheeyem’s out of control, you’re just going to get hurt-”_

_“No! I can’t let all my work get destroyed, we’re nearly there, I’m so close-”_

_“Terry, use vine whip to try and control Beheeyem- M, come on, let’s go-”_

_“Get off of me!”_

_“Wait, come back- watch out!”_

_\---_

_“Vang0… Vang0? Shit… I have to find Beheeyem…”_

_\---  
_


	15. X

“Vang0?”

He snapped his head up, to see Burger standing in the doorway.

“I remember,” Vang0 said, “I remember what happened at the institute.”

Burger grinned. “I knew you’d do it. Come on now, you can tell me in the van. We think we know where to find Dasha.”

Burger and Vang0 drove for a few minutes in silence. Hypo had stayed behind to take care of his hotel.

“Did you, uh, remember anything useful about Dasha’s dad?”

“Well, I- maybe.” Vang0 took his two Pokéballs out of his bag, and stared at them. After a moment, he released Joltik, and it climbed happily onto his shoulder.

“Is that…”

Vang0 nodded. “Tangela.” He took a deep breath. “You were right - we were working with Beheeyem. Trying to control its memory-altering abilities. We found out that it- that its powers were stronger if it was… being hurt. But we took it too far, and it started to destroy the lab. I told Tangela- I told Terry to help restrain it, and then the explosion happened.”

Burger nodded slowly. Vang0 couldn’t look at him.

“Do you still think I’m a good trainer for Joltik?” Vang0 asked quietly, his voice shaking.

“Course I do. Don’t be stupid.”

“How can you-” Vang0 felt his eyes burning with tears. “I _tortured_ a Pokemon! I got Terry killed trying to stop it, and I used Beheeyem to fuck with people’s memories! I’m not- I’m not a fucking good person, Burger.”

Burger was silent for a few excruciating moments.

“Maybe you didn’t used to be a good person, Vang0, but you sure as hell are one now.”

“Wh- what do you-”

Burger’s hands clenched on the steering wheel, and he stared straight ahead at the road. “Vang0, if you weren’t a good person, you wouldn’t be so upset about the things you did. The fact that it’s affecting you this way proves that you’ve changed. I don’t know who you were before - far as I’m concerned, he’s a different person. But I know Vang0 Bang0. He’s the guy who came and fixed my PC, and helped with my wiring even though it wasn’t part of his job, and he saved a Joltik, and he helped release a Galvantula back to where she belonged, and- fuck, I don’t think I should be sayin’ this right now, but… I think I went and fell for him.”

Vang0 felt his heart jump into his mouth.

“So, Vang0, you’re not a bad person. You ain’t allowed to be a bad person.”

“Burger-”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Burger laughed softly, and his grip on the steering wheel softened. “I kinda sprung all of that on you. Sorry ‘bout that, friend.”

Vang0 nodded, glad that he didn’t have to say anything, because he had no fucking clue what to say, he didn’t know what love was supposed to feel like, or infatuation, or attraction of any kind, really, he’d essentially only been alive for six months, but he knew he did like the way Burger laughed and smiled, and how he ran his hand through his hair when he was thinking, and how-

“Alright, we’re nearly there,” Burger said, slowing the van down, “let’s leave the van here so they don’t see us coming.”

“Uh, Burger? What are we- I mean, what’s the plan?”

“Well,” Burger said, “I don’t exactly have one yet, but it’s gonna involve a lot of me and Ampharos beating people up.”

“And… how do you know Dasha’s here?”

“We found records of the locations of all the Debonair Inc. labs, and this one is closest to where we are.”

Vang0 stared at Burger. “That’s all we have to go on?”

“Hey, now you’re making me think it ain’t such a good idea.”

“Because it isn’t! There’s no way we can get through the guards they’ve got, and we aren’t even sure if Dasha’s here!”

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

Vang0 looked at Burger, and tried not to get distracted by him, he was doing that thing where he ran his hand through his hair again-

“Can I borrow your laptop?”

After several minutes of Vang0 doing - well, he didn’t really know what he was doing, but it seemed to be working - he turned to Burger and grinned. “I can switch the power off.”

Burger raised an eyebrow at him. “Do I wanna know how you know how to do that?”

“Well, the answer is I don’t know. But it’ll work as a distraction and help us sneak in. If Dasha’s not here, we can probably at least get some information as to where she might be.”

Burger nodded. “How long do we have before the power turns back on?”

“Emergency generator kicks in after ten minutes.”

“It’s gonna be tight.”

“Do you think we can do it?”

“We gotta try. For Dasha.”

Vang0 nodded. “For Dasha.”


	16. XI

Their entry into the building was surprisingly easy. They waited until it was night, so that they had the cover of darkness as well as the power being off.

Vang0 left Terry’s Pokeball in the van. “I’ll be back soon,” he muttered, as he pocketed Joltik’s Pokeball.

As soon as the power was shut off, they started quickly making their way towards the building. It looked fairly similar to what Vang0 could remember of the lab he’d worked at - a large, tall, grey building with hardly any windows.

There were two guards standing at the front door.

“I can’t send Ampharos,” Burger muttered, “they’ll see him from a mile off.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Vang0 muttered back, and he gently took Joltik off his shoulder. “Can you bring Ampharos out here?”

A few moments later, Joltik scuttled across the grass to where the guards were, full to the brim with Ampharos’s electricity.

The guards froze for a few seconds, and then slumped to the floor.

“Nice!” Burger said, grinning at Vango, and Vang0 felt his heart skip a beat.

They crept over the guards’ bodies, and Joltik jumped back onto Vang0’s shoulder. Burger grabbed one of their key cards, and opened the door.

The first corridor was completely empty. 

They cautiously crept down it, Ampharos illuminating the path ahead with a soft glow.

“Which way do we go?” Vang0 hissed as they reached the point where the path split.

“Uh,” Burger said, “you go left and I’ll go right?”

“We are _not_ splitting up. You may have naturally muscular arms from working on a farm but not all of us are so lucky. If I run into one of those guards, I’m fucked.”

“Fair enough.” Vang0 could just see Burger biting his lip in the dim light. “Alright, let’s go this way.” He gestured to the passage going left.

“You seem very sure of yourself.”

“There’s a sign that says ‘laboratory’ and points that way.”

“...Oh.”

They walked for a while more uninterrupted, following the signs that pointed towards the laboratory, until they reached a larger room. Burger poked his head around the corner, and turned back to Vang0 looking pale.

“There’s five doors in that room. Each of ‘em has got a guard in front of it, and each guard is holding a taser as well as a full belt of Pokéballs.”

“Fuck,” Vang0 muttered, _”fuck.”_

“I’ve got an idea,” Burger whispered.

“What is it?”

“Do you trust me?” 

Vang0 looked into Burger’s eyes - one sky blue, the other a ball of red fire - and nodded. He had no idea why, but he knew he would trust Burger with his life.

“Right. Go back to that passage there,” Burger pointed to where the main corridor they were in branched off to a smaller one, “and close your eyes. I’m gonna give you an opening. You’ll know when. Go and find Dasha, I’ll sort out these guards and come join you.”

Vang0 nodded again. 

Burger made to turn around, but Vang0 grabbed his arm. “Be careful.”

Burger smiled. “You too, Vang0.”

Vang0 stood in the smaller corridor, eyes shut, and Joltik tucked under his jacket to protect it.

“Hey, fuckers. Lookin’ for me?” He heard Burger yell, and his heart stopped.

Then, Burger shouted, “Ampharos, use flash!” And even through his closed eyes, he could see the intense light. 

He heard running, first just one person, then followed by a horde of other footsteps, and he opened his eyes to see the guards running full throttle after Burger.

Vang0 said a silent prayer to whatever higher powers might be watching that Burger would be safe, and ran the other way, towards the larger room.

It was almost completely empty.

One guard stood in the middle of the room. “Neat trick your friend pulled there. Fortunately, I’m smart enough to know a diversion when I see one.”

Vang0 froze, panicked. 

_Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck._

“So, what’s your plan? You guys journalists? Trying to get the scoop on what Debonair Inc. is _really_ doing?”

“We-we’re here for Dasha,” Vang0 said, trying to keep his voice steady.

The guard frowned. “How’d you know she’d be here?” Vang0 didn’t respond. “Ah, now that was sneaky. You were just guessing which lab she’d be at? Well, you two have got guts, I’ll give you that. But you’re stupid if you thought you could get in here just by switching thr lights off. You’ve got…” he checked his watch, “two and a half minutes before the generator kicks in, give or take. Then every guard in this building will know where you are, and you’ll be screwed.”

Vang0 felt something tickling his neck, and had an idea. A stupid, reckless idea, but an idea.

He put his hands up. “You’re right. We didn’t think this through. If I give in peacefully, will you promise not to hurt my friend?”

“Maybe you’re not as stupid as I thought. Alright, as long as there’s no funny business from you, I won’t lay a finger on your friend.”

“Thank you.” 

Vang0 stood still as the guard cuffed him. “I may have promised not to hurt your friend,” the guard hissed in Vang0’s ear, “but the other guards didn’t promise anything. When they catch him, it’s not gonna be pretty.”

Vang0 felt blood rush to his face, pounding in his ears. “Joltik. Now.”

“Wha-” The guard lurched away from Vang0 as Joltik jumped onto his face.

“Use Thunderbolt!” Vang0 yelled, jumping as far as he could away from the guard. 

The guard was paralysed for a moment as electricity rushed through his body, before he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

“Yes!” Vang0 shouted, as Joltik jumped back onto him. “Good job, Joltik, that was awesome! Can you do anything about the handcuffs?”

Joltik hopped down onto his hands, and used bite to break the handcuffs. They clattered to the floor.

“Thanks, buddy,” Vang0 said, grinning. “Now we’ve got to find Dasha.”

He tried opening all of the doors - most of them led to empty offices, except one, which led to a long corridor. At the end of the corridor was a small room, with a bed and a desk. 

Dasha was lying on the bed, asleep.

Vang0 shook her shoulder gently. “Dasha, come on, we’re getting you out of here. We don’t have much time-”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared blankly at Vang0. 

“Who the hell are you?”


	17. XII

“Dasha, it’s me. Vang0.”

“Vang0? What kind of a name is that? I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you’re not allowed in here. My dad runs this place. Guards!”

“Dasha, no-”

“Get out!”

The lights flickered, and came back on.

_”Fuck._ Dasha, there’s no time, you’ve had your memories altered-”

Someone grabbed Vang0 from behind.

“No! Dasha, you have to remember, you have to-”

A hand smothered his mouth, and dragged him out of her room.

He was dragged roughly to the larger room with the doors where he’d knocked out the guard before, before one of the office rooms, and into a huge laboratory room. 

In the middle of the room was a large tank, with opaque walls. Vang0 had been taken to what seemed like a viewing platform for the tank. Next to the tank was a chair, and tied to the chair was-

Burger.

“Vang0!” He called out as he saw him, “Vang0, I’m sorry, I tried to-”

“Quiet!” One of the guards hit Burger with a baton, and he fell silent.

From one of the other doors, on the opposite side of the viewing platform, Dasha’s father walked in, followed closely by Dasha.

“Now, this _is_ disappointing,” he said, looking from Vang0 to Burger, and then back up to Vang0, “you know, if you wanted your old job back, there are other ways to go about it than breaking and entering, Vang0. Surely someone with your considerable intellect would be able to figure that out.”

“I don’t want my job back.” Vang0 glared at him with as much malice as he could muster.

“Ah, I see - so this was a misguided rescue mission. But Dasha’s perfectly happy staying with us, aren’t you?”

Dasha nodded. “Of course I am, Daddy.”

“See? No reason for you to be concerned. But, unfortunately, you did break the law. And I don’t really want to get involved with the police, so I’m afraid we’ll have to come up with a different solution. 

He nodded at one of the guards near Vang0, who walked over to a control panel, and pressed a button. 

The opaque walls around the tank slid down, revealing a Pokemon trapped inside.

Beheeyem.

“Beheeyem, wipe their memories,” Vang0’s father said, pointing to Burger and Vang0.

Beheeyem made a small noise, but didn’t move.

“It seems you need some incentive.”

The guard pressed another button.

Beheeyem cried out loudly in pain, writhing in its bindings.

“No!” Vang0 yelled, “you’re hurting it! It’s in pain, can’t you see? Stop it-”

And then he felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

And he remembered.

He remembered _everything._


	18. Memories

_“Your job is to infiltrate Debonair Inc, find out what they’re doing, and report back to us. We’ll equip you with a wire so you can record conversations. Whatever happens, do not interfere with their work. They cannot suspect you. Understood?”_

_-_

_“Debonair Inc. is working with a Pokemon called Beheeyem to try and control its memory-altering abilities. It seems they want to use it to wipe the memories of anyone who finds out that they test their products on Pokémon.”_

_-_

_“I have to help Beheeyem. They’re hurting it. I’ve hurt it.”_

_“That would compromise our entire operation. Be patient. If you carry out your job well, then Debonair Inc. will be exposed and Beheeyem will be saved.”_

_“I can’t wait that long! It’s in pain right now!”_

_“If you do this, you will be throwing two years of work down the drain.”_

_"I don't care. I'm going to delete the records of everything, so it'll be harder for them to start again, and I'm going to save Beheeyem."_

_-_

_“I’d like to open a safety deposit box under the name Vang0 Bang0, please. The smallest size you have. I’m just putting this memory stick in it.”_


	19. XIII

Vang0 opened his eyes slowly. He was still being held in place by one of the guards.

“What should we do with them?” The one holding him asked. 

Dapper’s father shrugged. “Leave them here for now, they’re harmless. We’ll drop them off at a hotel in the morning.”

Vang0 let himself be slumped against the wall, pretending to be only semi-conscious and confused.

Once everyone else had left the room, he looked over at Burger.

Burger was looking around the room, his brows furrowed and mouth slightly open. Vang0 stood up and walked to him.

“Burger?” He said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Who- who’s Burger?”

“That’s your name.”

“Oh. Who’re you?”

“I’m Vang0. I’m going to get you out of here. You’ve lost all your memories.”

“Vang0. Vang0.” Burger nodded. He untied Burger’s restraints, and then turned to the glass tank.

Beheeyem was lying on the ground, hardly moving, looking up at Vang0 pleadingly.

“Gimme a second,” he muttered, and went back to the control panel. He could remember exactly how to work it, now, and easily managed to open the tank, and release Beheeyem’s restraints. 

It weakly floated upwards, hovering above the tank. Vang0 ran to it.

“Beheeyem, are you okay? I’m sorry for everything I did, I should have tried to help you sooner, I-”

Beheeyem gently flew into him, nudging him into a hug.

“Do you… do you see all the memories?”

It nodded.

“Can you give his back?”

Vang0 looked at Burger, who was mumbling incoherently to himself.

Beheeyem floated over to Burger, and gently touched its head to Burger’s. After a few seconds, a low thrum resonated throughout the room, and Burger slumped to the floor, before opening his eyes slowly after a few seconds.

“Vang0?” He mumbled.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Vang0 muttered, kneeling next tohim and putting his hands on Burger’s shoulders. “Burger? Do you remember everything?”

“I… I think so… it’s a bit fuzzy, but it’s all there.”

Vang0 pressed his forehead to Burger’s. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“How- why weren’t your memories lost?”

“I don’t know. I think… I think Beheeyem restored mine instead of erasing them. Or maybe it was because my memories weren’t fully restored, so instead of erasing them again, it just filled in the blanks.”

“And Joltik?”

Vang0 lifted up his jacket to reveal Joltik sitting on his shoulder. He grinned. “All good.”

“And… Dasha?”

Vang0 shook his head. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get to her again by just trying to infiltrate one of the labs. But I’ve got another idea. We just need to get out of this lab…”

Beheeyem butted its head against Vang0, and flashed the lights on its arm.

"What's up?" 

It flashed the lights again, in the same pattern.

"I think it's trying to say it can help," Burger said.

"Can you help us?" Vang0 asked it.

Beheeyem nodded, and the lights on both of its arms started flashing. A weird film spread over them, making the room look strange and iridescent.

"This is the move wonder room," Burger said, looking around in awe, "but I think Beheeyem's made us invisible to other people."

"Really!? How does it do that?"

Burger chuckled. "Dunno. This is one special Pokémon." 

They made it out of the lab with little problem - Burger had been right about Beheeyem making them invisible - and were soon driving towards Mauville City.

"Remind me why we're going to Mauville?"

"I remembered something - I wasn't working for Dasha's dad. I mean, I was, but I was also working for a different company, getting information so they could expose Debonair Inc. I had a memory stick with a bunch of recorded conversations where they admit to testing their products on Pokémon, and it was in a safety deposit box in Mauville. I was planning to save Beheeyem, and I had the memory stick there in case things went south, but before I could tell the people I was working for about it, the explosion happened and I lost my memories."

"So you're saying-"

"We can send the memory stick to the people I was working for and they can expose Debonair Inc."

Burger nodded, staring straight ahead at the road. "You really are somethin' special, Vang0."

Vang0 blushed. "Wh- what's that supposed to mean?"

Burger blushed too. "Nothing! Just that, uh… you're a good dude. That's all."

"Well- you're a pretty good dude too."

"Me? I just look after the odd Pokémon. You were part of a whole scheme to take down an evil corporation."

Vang0 stared at Burger. "You've helped countless injured Pokémon. You took Dasha in when she needed somewhere to go, and you helped me realise that I'm not a terrible person. So yeah, you are a pretty good dude. More than that. You're-" Vang0 stopped, and looked away. "You're pretty fucking amazing."


	20. XIV

They reached Mauville fairly quickly, and got the memory stick from the safety deposit box with little problem.

"Right, where are your… uh, people, then?"

Vang0 bit his lip. "Well, that's one of the problems. They're in Lilycove city, which is quite a drive from here."

Burger nodded. "That's a couple days' drive from here."

"I could… well, I'm not sure if it would work, but…"

"Vang0, so far all of your plans have worked pretty damn well, so whatever you're thinking, I reckon we should do it."

Vang0 nodded. "Okay. I need access to the Mauville radio station."

One trip to the costume store later, Vang0 and Burger were standing outside the radio station, clad in maintenance gear, Burger holding a tool box.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Vang0 muttered.

"It'd better."

They knocked on the door.

It opened to reveal a woman standing there, in a fancy uniform that read 'MAUVILLE BROADCASTING STATION' on the chest.

"Hi! Welcome to the Mauville Broadcasting Station. How may I help you?"

"We're, uh, here for maintenance," Vang0 said.

"Maintenance? I don't think we have anything scheduled-"

"Listen here, we're on a tight schedule," Burger said, surprising Vang0, "we got three other places to get to today, and it ain't my problem if you weren't informed about us. We're here to do our job, and I'd thank you kindly to let us in, unless you want the radio station to blow up."

She looked at him, shocked. "Well- uh, you can come inside and start having a look, I suppose, but I'm going to have to go talk to my boss-"

"Fine, fine, let's get on with it."

She led them up to a room that was a mess of wires, and bit her lip nervously. "Just don't do anything yet, 'kay? I need to check with the boss."

"Yeah, yeah."

She walked out nervously.

"Where did _that_ come from?" Vang0 muttered.

Burger shrugged. "Dunno, but hurry up. We don't have long before her boss tells her there's no maintenance scheduled for today."

Vang0 started working, first taking Joltik out its Pokeball so it could jump around the wires. 

"Their circuitry is a mess," he said to himself as he looked for a way to access the broadcasting system.

"Hey, remember, you ain't actually here to fix it up for them."

"I wish I was. I mean, I know we need to save Dasha. I want to save Dasha. I just wish we had more time so I could-"

"Yeah, got it, now _hurry up."_

"Got it! Okay, the recordings should have started playing, let's go-"

They sprinted out the building as fast as they could, bumping into the woman who had met them at the door on the way.

"Sorry, wrong place!" Burger yelled as they ran past her, "gotta go! Call us if you got an electrical problem!"

Vang0 felt giddy as they got into the van, and couldn't stop the laughter from overtaking his body. "I can't believe we did it-" 

"I know! Wait, let's turn on the radio-"

_"-may not seem morally correct, per se, to test our products on Pokémon, but it's all for the greater good. Just think about how many people we've helped, after all."_

_"You're right, Dr. Scarlet. For the greater-"_

It cut off. 

_"Mauville Broadcasting Services would like to apologise for that unexpected transmission - it seems someone hacked our system, and-"_

Burger switched the radio off. 

"Where to now?" Vang0 asked him.

"Dasha's house. I have a feeling that history might just repeat itself."

The drive to Dasha's house was quick - Mauville was one of the richer areas, so their mansion was in the vicinity. And, sure enough, a massive horde of reporters was clustered outside the front door.

They parked, and got out to join the horde.

Surprisingly, the horde was silent - the reason for which became clear as soon as they got close. Even from outside the house, they could hear what was going on inside.

"-can't make me stay! You're a monster, you know that!?"

"Dasha, darling, you have to understand how many people we've helped-"

"Helped with your fucking pharmaceutical products? So killing a bunch of innocent Pokémon is worth it because some old lady can use a cream to pretend to be a few years younger!? You're not exactly presenting a good argument."

"Dasha, please-"

"No. I'm leaving! Theres nothing you can do about it."

The front door flew open, and Dasha stormed out. The reporters immediately began to bombard her with questions, but she waded through them like Moses parting the sea.

"Dasha!" Burger called as she reached the edge of the horde, "Dasha, do you remember us?"

She turned, and looked at Burger and Vang0, frowning slightly.

"I… who are you?"

"Listen, we're here to help. We can take you away from your family, and explain everything. I bet you've got questions, right?"

She nodded slowly.

"Come on, no time to explain."

Miraculously, something in Dasha must have remembered them, because she followed them to the van, and got in the back with Vang0.

"This is Beheeyem," Vang0 said, "you've lost your memories, but it can help you get them back."

"How… how do you know all of this?"

"Once you remember, it'll make sense. Just… trust us. Okay?"

She nodded.

Beheeyem touched its forehead to Dasha's, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, before opening wide.

"V- Vang0?" She stuttered, staring at him. He nodded, and pulled her into a hug.

"Cmon, Dasha, let's go home."


	21. XV

The farm was, strangely, almost exactly as they had left it - minus a horde of reporters. They traipsed inside to the living room, and sat in silence for a while.

"Thank you," Dasha said eventually, "for, you know… saving me. I remember everything now."

Burger nodded. "You would've done the same for us." 

She smiled slightly. "I think I'm going to get some sleep. It's… it's been a long day." She stood up, smiled at them again, and walked out the room.

"Well, I suppose we should get some rest, too," Burger said, standing up. 

"Wait," Vang0 said, "there's- there's something I need to do. Can you… can you come with me?"

He led Burger outside, and grabbed his hand, not looking at Burger's face. Beheeyem followed them, curiously. Burger let Vang0 lead him up to the top of a hill, where they stood, looking at the sun sink slowly below the horizon.

Vang0 let go of Burger's hand, and took out Terry's Pokéball. 

"Terry," he said, his voice shaking slightly, "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help you. I'm sorry I've kept you in this Pokéball for months instead of letting you go."

He didn't notice how much his hands were shaking until Burger put his own hands around Vang0's.

"Goodbye, Terry," Vang0 said, and he let tears run down his cheeks as he pressed the release button on the Pokéball.

Red light fissured from the ball to form the shape of Terry on the ground. 

Vang0 knelt next to him, and put his hand on Terry, feeling his last few breaths,

And then, Terry was still.

Burger kneeled next to him, and Vang0 didn't protest as Burger wrapped his arms around him. 

"Let's bury him," Burger said, and Vang0 nodded.

It was fairly quick, once Burger had fetched the shovels - Vang0 wasn't much help, but Burger easily dug a hole, and they gently placed Terry in it before refilling the hole.

He let Burger hug him again, and they stood there for a while, until the last rays of sun had disappeared, and the moon was the only thing left illuminating them.

Vang0 looked around, at the farm, at the house, at Burger, and he thought that this felt more like home than anything else ever had, and that maybe he would be happy just staying here, and not only here as in the farm, but here as in Burger's arms, and he realised that maybe he had also fallen for Burger a little bit, and maybe he should tell Burger that, but right then he just wanted to stay in Burger's arms and listen to Burger's steady breathing, and his heartbeat against Vang0's ear.


End file.
